The original "Country In-Laws"
with our take on today's Country and Indie Country music scene

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Album Review: Most Messed Up by Old 97's

Old 97s put the “Alt” in Alt-Country. Since 1993, Old 97’s
have been defining the genre. With nine albums to their credit, they’ve
influenced everyone who’s come out of the Austin music scene since. With their
tenth album, “Most Messed Up,” they’re sure to recruit even more followers.

In case you didn’t know any of that, they remind you with
their opening track, “Longer Than You’ve Been Alive.” While dozens of Nashville
stars have come and gone over the past twenty years, Old 97’s brag, “We’ve been
doing this longer than you’ve been alive” and even after all those years they
add, “I’m only human, but I’m super sometimes”

This album is another one of those “sometimes.” Bringing
their signature lo-fi, high energy, “Violent Femmes meets Waylon Jennings”
sound, Old 97’s redefines Country the way a sledgehammer redefines drywall.

“Give It Time” cranks things up a gear or two with a
scorching guitar intro. Singing, “When I saw you for the first time, I thought
I might be sick. That combination of joy and compulsion, and you were the
reason for it” you suspect that this might be an uplifting song about needing
to give time for relationships to flourish. But in typical Old 97s fashion, it
turns cynical as the chorus end with, “Give it time. It will break you.”

“Let’s Get Drunk & Get It On,” opens with some great
crunchy guitar work. As you might imagine from the title, it’s their harder-edged
take on Jimmy Buffet’s song of a similar name. “This Is The Ballad,” follows. And
in case you thought this might be a love song, Old 97’s dispel that notion with
the first line: “This is the ballad of drinking rye whiskey and sleeping til
two on a warm afternoon.” “Wheels Off” shows off the early 80’s alt-rock guitar
influence of bands like The Violent Femmes and Let’s Active (among others.)

The rest of the album showcases their unique musical
alchemy. They take Rockabilly, Outlaw Country and Alt-Rock, then mix in a
little Bakersfield sound, and top it all off with a healthy dose of punk
attitude. (They even manage to throw in some surf rock on “Guadalahara.”) The resulting
elixir is an irresistible cocktail (Molotov and otherwise) of classic
Alt-Country. This album proves that Old 97s are still among the best at the
genre they helped create. To miss this album would be “Most Messed Up!”

2012 ICMA Album Of The Year

Meet the Band: Family Reunion

JD likes to tell everyone his initials stand for Jack Daniels or James Dean. I guess that’s where he started with his story telling. Luckily he tells better stories in his songs.

Cousin Carrie: (Vocals and Photo Ops.)

She thought we started calling her “Carrie” because she sounded like Carrie Underwood. But the truth is we called her “Kari” because she used to sound like a bad Karaoke singer. She’s much better now

Cousin Barbie: (Guitars, Background Vocals, Crowd Control)

Barbie is actually short for Trailerpark Barbie (we mean that in the nice way.) Even though she looks like a doll, you won’t find her in a pink dress or playing house. But she sure does know her way around a fret board.

Cousin Hollywood: (Bass, Background Vocals, Movie Magic)

None of us knows exactly where Hollywood lives. Whenever we ask, he just says “somewhere West of Texas.” But Hollywood is more a state of mind than a place anyway.

Cousin Slim: (Drums, Background Hollerin’, Party Favors)

To say that Slim is the life of the party is an understatement. Slim IS the party. He likes to party louder, faster and longer than anyone else, and that’s exactly how he plays drums too.

Cousin Tex: (Fiddle, Keyboards, Any Instrument Ever Made)

We’ve got lots of cousins from Texas, but oddly enough Tex isn’t one of them. But Tex knows a little about music, there’s not an instrument made that he can’t figure out how to play.